Raising and training a puppy to be a personal or family protection home guard dog is a huge investment. We seek to only provide our clients with the best of the best. Thus, we are extremely selective when it comes to choosing breeders. And our selectiveness doesn’t stop there. With the breeder’s help, we handpick each of our puppies based on a particular list of characteristics and traits. The top 5 traits we seek in dogs (to varying degrees) are:
1. Confidence
A true protection dog is extremely confident. It walks into the room like it owns it. The dog’s confidence is unshakeable and this level of confidence must be due to genetics first and training second.
2. Prey drive
We seek dogs with moderate levels of prey drive. Prey drive is a dog’s desire to hunt and kill their prey. By selecting dogs with moderate drive, we have enough drive to use for bite development training and imprinting without having “prey monsters,” as the working dog world calls them.
We don’t want dogs with excessive amounts of prey drive. It’s unnecessary and requires more work for the handler to keep the dog satisfied. Our dogs have enough prey drive to do the job, and do it well of course, without being over-the-top. High prey drive dogs are better suited for expert handlers and police and military jobs where the dog is not living as a family pet in addition to his working dog duties.
3. Defensive drive
A protection dog must be willing to defend his home and family with his life. Sadly many dogs in the general pet population today do not possess the necessary defensive drive to complete this task. They buckle and run under pressure.
A well-bred protection dog ALWAYS rises to the occasion and conquers his adversary. This requires defense drive which is always genetic. Correct defense comes from confidence- in him or herself and his or her capabilities. We pick our dogs’ bloodlines carefully to know that, should the situation present itself, our dogs will fight with all they’ve got to take down their opponent.
4. Energy level
A hyper dog isn’t fun to live with. We see them and train them every day in our pet dog training program, and while most dogs are simply unfulfilled and bored – not high energy like their owners think – the ideal dog has the correct amount of energy to do anything his/her owner wishes to do or not do.
For the active owner who wants a jogging partner, we have a dog for that. For the less active owner who stays home or travels a lot, we have a dog for that too. Our dogs are not only of moderate drive, which is ideal, but also of moderate energy too. Add to that our world-class training and you have a dog who’s enjoyable and well-suited for any environment or lifestyle.
5. Dependency
Our dogs want to be with their people, and they are never far away, but they aren’t desperate, needy or clingy. They are loving and playful, but not underfoot or demanding. They are close to you but not in the way. Some of our dogs are more affectionate and family-oriented while still being alert and aware of their surroundings, while others are more aloof and dutifully on guard.
Tell us what you want, and what you need, and we’ve got the dog for you! Our dogs are home raised and professionally trained. We know them well and can pair you with the right dog to be your perfect match!
And yes, these traits can all be seen in puppies as young as 6 weeks of age! We pick puppies who fall within a desirable range for all these traits. These puppies are not the norm as it can be extremely difficult to find a puppy who fits the bill in all five categories!
